How to get a job in the Netherlands as a foreigner

Citizens of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland can live and work in the Netherlands without a residence or work permit. If you’ll stay longer than four months, you register with the municipality where you live, which gives you a citizen service number (BSN), the number employers need to pay you. People staying for a shorter time can register as non-residents to get a BSN.

Everyone else needs a residence permit that allows work. For most skilled jobs, the employer starts the process. Depending on your nationality you may also need an entry visa (MVV) before you travel; citizens of some countries, such as the US, Canada, Australia and Japan, are exempt. The IND lists the requirements for each nationality and route.

Highly skilled migrant (kennismigrant)

The most common route for professionals. Your employer must be a recognised sponsor with the IND, and your salary must meet the IND’s income requirement, which depends on your age, is lower for recent graduates, and is updated every year. The employer applies for you, and as a highly skilled migrant you don’t need a separate work permit. The procedure is known for being relatively quick once the employer is recognised.

EU Blue Card

Also available in the Netherlands, for people with a higher education qualification and a job offer that meets the Blue Card salary requirement. It can be useful if you later want to move to another EU country. Which of the two routes suits you best depends on your situation, so compare the current conditions on the IND site.

Orientation year (zoekjaar hoogopgeleiden)

Recent graduates of Dutch universities, and of some highly ranked universities abroad, may qualify for a one-year residence permit to look for work. During that year you can work without a separate work permit, and if you then switch to the highly skilled migrant route, a lower income requirement applies.

Other routes

There are separate permits for researchers, intra-company transferees and the self-employed. For how Dutch sponsorship compares with the US, the UK and Germany, see our guide to finding visa sponsorship jobs.

Because the highly skilled migrant route only works with a recognised sponsor, the IND’s public register of recognised sponsors is your best search tool if you need a permit. It lists every organisation that can use the scheme, from multinationals to universities and start-ups. Filter it by your field, then go straight to those employers’ careers pages.

A few patterns help:

• Large international employers in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Eindhoven hire across borders routinely and usually have an in-house relocation process.
• Tech and high-tech manufacturing, particularly around Amsterdam and Eindhoven, hire many international engineers.
• Universities and research institutes recruit internationally as a matter of course.
• A small company not on the register can apply for recognition, but it takes time and money, so don’t count on it.

Ask early. In the first call with a recruiter, confirming that they can sponsor the role saves both sides weeks.

For many jobs, no. English is the working language in much of tech, research, logistics, finance and at international headquarters, and many job ads are written in English. Dutch is usually required in healthcare, education, the public sector, legal work, and customer-facing roles that serve Dutch clients, as well as at many smaller companies.

Learning Dutch still pays off. It widens the market you can apply to, helps at work outside meetings, and shows employers you plan to stay. Put your level on your CV using the CEFR scale (A1 to C2), even if it’s a beginner level.

International hiring in the Netherlands is concentrated in a few sectors and cities. Tech and software companies, many of them based in Amsterdam, hire engineers, data specialists and product staff from abroad. The high-tech manufacturing cluster around Eindhoven recruits engineers and technicians. Logistics around the port of Rotterdam and Schiphol airport, life sciences around Leiden, finance in Amsterdam and the international organisations in The Hague all employ large international workforces.

Roles that mainly serve the Dutch market, such as local sales, public-facing services and most administrative jobs, are much harder to get without Dutch. If your field is one of them, look for international employers that need your language or your knowledge of your home market.

• Company careers pages, especially of recognised sponsors in your field.
• werk.nl, the job site of the Dutch public employment service (UWV).
• General job boards such as LinkedIn, Indeed and Nationale Vacaturebank, which are widely used in the Netherlands.
• Recruitment and staffing agencies. Agencies play a big part in Dutch hiring, including for international candidates.

Our jobs in the Netherlands page lists the current roles we track, with a page for Amsterdam. If you already live elsewhere in the EU, remote jobs in Europe can be a way to work for a Dutch employer without moving. To check what a role pays, salaries by role and country lists the pay employers advertise in their job ads.

Dutch hiring culture values directness. Say what you want and why in plain words, without overselling, and keep everything short.

• CV: one or two pages, reverse-chronological, with a short profile at the top. A photo is optional and less common than in Germany. Our German CV guide includes a side-by-side of Dutch, German and Irish conventions.
• Motivation letter (motivatiebrief): often expected, and short. Explain why this role, why this company and what you bring, in a few direct paragraphs. The free cover letter template gives you a plain structure to adapt.
• Work status: state it in one line on your CV, such as “EU citizen” or “Non-EU, eligible for the highly skilled migrant scheme”.
• References: usually given on request rather than attached.

Applications mostly go through online forms. Before you upload, run your CV against the ad in the free CV score checker: it gives a 0–100 match and lists the keywords your CV doesn’t show yet.

• Answer the sponsorship question first. If you need a permit, say so on your CV and in your first message. Mentioning that the employer is on the IND register shows you understand the process.
• Give salary expectations the Dutch way: gross, per month or per year, and say whether your figure includes holiday allowance. Research it for the city, not for your home market.
• Be clear about timing: your notice period and when you could relocate.
• Keep your online profile consistent. Recruiters often check LinkedIn, so make sure your titles and dates match your CV.

Dutch interviews are often relatively informal and direct, with flat hierarchies and frank questions in both directions. You’re expected to have opinions and to ask questions of your own, and it’s normal to discuss salary openly at the offer stage.

• Salary is often quoted per month, gross. Most employees also receive a holiday allowance (vakantiegeld), by law usually 8% of gross salary, paid once a year, often in May or June. Ask whether a quoted figure includes it.
• The 30% ruling. Some employees recruited from abroad qualify for a tax facility known as the 30% ruling. Its conditions, including a salary norm, are set by the Belastingdienst (the Dutch tax authority) and have changed in recent years, so check the current rules rather than relying on an employer’s summary.
• Probation periods are short by law: at most two months, and shorter or none on many fixed-term contracts.
• First contracts are often fixed-term, commonly for a year, with a permanent contract later. That’s normal and not a warning sign by itself.

1. Permit: if you need one, your employer applies to the IND, and you collect your residence permit after arrival.
2. Registration: register with your municipality to receive your BSN, which you need for your salary, bank account and healthcare.
3. Health insurance: basic health insurance is mandatory for people who live or work in the Netherlands.
4. Housing: start early. Rental housing in the big cities is scarce and expensive, and it’s often the slowest part of the move.

Comparing countries? Germany works differently: there’s no sponsor register, and there’s a permit for coming to look for work. See our guide on how to get a job in Germany. The government’s English-language portal, government.nl, covers the official background on living and working in the Netherlands.

• Paying for a job offer or a permit through an agent. For the highly skilled migrant route, the employer applies to the IND.
• Employers you can’t verify. Dutch businesses are registered with the Chamber of Commerce (KvK), and recognised sponsors appear on the IND register.
• Housing deposits for flats you haven’t seen, often paired with a story about the landlord being abroad. This is one of the most common scams newcomers meet.
• Offers without an interview or a written contract, and pressure to decide quickly.